Sophomore defender Chase Geffert played all 90 minutes in the Quakers' 1-0 over Dartmouth, helping Penn hold its seventh straight shutout.
Credit: Biruk TibebeIn a battle of the unbeatens, Penn women’s soccer came out on top.
On Saturday, the Quakers traveled to Dartmouth as both teams put their blemish-free Ivy League records on the line. The Red and Blue were victorious, winning 1-0 in a hard-fought nail-biter that came down to the final few minutes.
Penn (10-1-1, 3-0-1 Ivy) entered the contest in the midst of an eight-game stretch without a loss, and the team continued that momentum early on against Dartmouth (7-4-2, 2-1-1). In the first half, the Quakers outshot the Big Green 6-4, sparked by a shot on goal from sophomore defender Katharine Larson in the sixth minute. However, neither team was able to break through, and the score was tied 0-0 at halftime.
The rhythm of the game changed dramatically at the start of the second half, as the Quakers quickly gained a 1-0 advantage off a header from junior defender Megan Lloyd. The goal was the first of Lloyd’s career and gave the Red and Blue a lead they would not give up.
Penn was able to withstand a flurry of ten Dartmouth shots in the second half to maintain its slim advantage. When the game entered crunch time, junior goalkeeper Kitty Qu delivered with key saves in the 87th and 88th minutes to clinch the Quakers’ third Ivy League win of the season.
Qu’s performance stood out on a day of many great ones, as she recorded her eighth shutout of the season and the 18th of her career. The team has now kept its opponents scoreless in 10 out of 12 games this year, only three short of the program record with four opportunities left to add to the total.
Next weekend, the Quakers will travel to New Haven to try to keep their spotless Ivy League record intact against Yale (6-5-1, 1-3-0), which has largely struggled thus far in conference play. While the Red and Blue will likely be the favorite in that game, they will have to keep winning to ensure that they keep their spot atop the Ancient Eight. Currently, Penn shares the conference lead with Harvard (6-5-1, 3-0-1), which it fought to a 0-0 draw on Sep. 22.
The Quakers escaped this weekend’s battle unscathed, but their quest to remain unbeaten is not yet finished.
Correction: A previous version of this article indicated that the player in the photograph was Megan Lloyd. It was in fact Chase Geffert. The DP regrets the error.
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